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Coopersville school lockdown confirmed as a ‘swatting’ incident

Posted at 12:45 PM, Sep 10, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-10 12:45:35-04

COOPERSVILLE, Mich. — Threats received on September 4 by the Coopersville Area Public Schools were a so-called ‘swatting,’ where fake crimes are called in to police to generate maximum police response.

In this case, a 14-year-old who used to attend the schools faces charges as an accomplice. He currently lives with a parent in Coopersville. The actual caller “is still believed to be outside of the area and maybe outside the United States,” said the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday.

While an investigation is ongoing, there were no actual threats.

The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department is tallying up the total cost of the swatting with restitution a possibility.

This latest swatting incident is the most recent of several that have taken place in Ottawa County recently.

It has been determined that a Pentwater man who visited the schools earlier in the day and whose image was distributed during the investigation was not connected with the swatting.